31 This is the family tree of Aaron and Moses at the time God spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 The names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar - 3 anointed priests ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu fell dead in the presence of God when they offered unauthorized sacrifice to him in the Wilderness of Sinai. They left no sons, and so only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father, Aaron. 5 God spoke to Moses. He said, 6 "Bring forward the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron so they can help him. 7 They shall work for him and the whole congregation at the Tent of Meeting by doing the work of The Dwelling. 8 Their job is to be responsible for all the furnishings of The Dwelling, ministering to the affairs of The Dwelling as the People of Israel come to perform their duties. 9 Turn the Levites over to Aaron and his sons; they are the ones assigned to work full time for him. 10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to minister as priests; anyone else who tries to elbow his way in will be put to death." 11 God spoke to Moses: 12 "I have taken the Levites from among the People of Israel as a stand-in for every Israelite mother's firstborn son. The Levites belong to me. 13 All the firstborn are mine - when I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated for my own use every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They belong to me. I am God."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 3:1-13
Commentary on Numbers 3:1-13
(Read Numbers 3:1-13)
There was much work belonging to the priests' office, and there were now only Aaron and his two sons to do it; God appoints the Levites to attend them. Those whom God finds work for, he will find help for. The Levites were taken instead of the first-born. When He that made us, saves us, as the first-born of Israel were saved, we are laid under further obligations to serve him faithfully. God's right to us by redemption, confirms the right he has to us by creation.